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Economic Prosperity

Apr 26, 2019

Ohioans Call on Portman to End Support of PROTECT Act

On Friday, April 26, concerned Ohioans, including those with pre-existing health conditions, gathered at Senator Rob Portman’s Columbus office to delivered more than 2,100 signatures urging Sen. Portman to end his support of the PROTECT Act. As the petition states, the PROTECT Act would scale back protections for people with pre-existing conditions, allow insurance companies to charge women and seniors more, and would bring back policies that don’t include essential health benefits like maternity care and hospitalizations.

Portman is currently a co-sponsor on the PROTECT Act. The petition includes signatures from Ohioans throughout the state, including Nora J. from Cincinnati, Ohio, who wrote, “Please take immediate action to protect OUR CARE from the ongoing sabotage of the Trump Administration.”

“Senate Republicans have spent a decade trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” said Amanda Wurst of Protect Our Care Ohio. “Today, we are taking more than 2,000 signatures to Portman’s office, imploring him to step back from the PROTECT Act and join in bipartisan efforts to strengthen what’s working and fix what’s not.”

Roughly 5 million Ohioans live with a pre-existing condition, including more than 626,000 Ohio children.

Charlotte Rudolph of Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio (UHCAN Ohio) also urged Sen. Portman to cut ties with the PROTECT Act, saying that the bill is “bad medicine with a lot of unfair and harmful side effects.”

“This bill does not act to protect. We need Senator Portman to protect Ohio from the PROTECT Act,” Rudolph added.

For Our Future Ohio (FOF-OH) is a statewide coalition organization that builds progressive power through voter engagement and community organizing to create shared economic prosperity, strengthen public education, advance social and racial justice, and preserve the environment. FOF-OH’s founding partners are the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, American Federation of Teachers, Communications Workers of America, National Education Association, and NextGen America.